The present invention relates to a circuit for generating a substrate bias voltage, more especially to a substrate-bias-voltage-generating circuit which prevents malfunctions of the circuits arranged near by due to unavoidable forward biasing of a pn junction in the substrate-bias-voltage-generating circuit during operation and the resultant injection of minority carriers to the semiconductor substrate.
Recent semiconductor integrated circuits tend to be operated by a single source, such as +5 V. Semiconductor memory devices, however, sometimes require negative direction bias voltage. In such cases, the semiconductor integrated circuit is provided with a substrate-bias-voltage-generating circuit which forms negative direction bias voltage from the +5 V source.
For example, semiconductor integrated circuit devices (IC's) formed by n channel insulated gate field effect transistor's (MIS FET's) have the capacitance decreased in the pn junction formed between the MIS FET source region and drain region and the semiconductor substrate. This increases circuit operating speed and the MIS FET threshold voltage is controlled within the desired value by the application, to the semiconductor substrate forming the MIS FET, of a substrate bias voltage having a polarity which reverse biases the pn junction, for example, in an n channel metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) IC, i.e., a substrate bias voltage of negative polarity. Such substrate bias voltage is given a polarity opposite to the electric source voltage supplied to the IC.
When forming said substrate-bias-voltage-generating circuit, however, the formation of the necessary semiconductor rectifier circuit, for example, an enhancement type channel FET on the semiconductor substrate inevitably results in the formation of a junction diode between the FET source and drain and the semiconductor substrate and, thereby, minority carriers are injected into the semiconductor substrate. This results in malfunctions in the circuits arranged near the substrate-bias-voltage-generating circuit.